IT'S ALL IN THE TENNIS FAMILY VINCE SPADEA JOINS SISTER AS OB CHAMP

Boca Raton's Spadea won the Boys' 18s title with a 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 victory over Gaston Etlis of Argentina, and joined his sister Luanne as an Orange Bowl champion. Luanne won the Girls' 18s in 1989.

It's the first time in the 46-year history of the tournament that siblings have won the 18s.

"I wasn't really thinking about that at all," said Spadea, 18, the first American to win the Orange Bowl since Jim Courier did it in 1987. "It's nice though."

Etlis, unseeded, gave Spadea, seeded fifth, his toughest match of the tournament. Spadea had won 36 of his last 45 games, but Sunday, he was forced to save four set points in the first set, including three in the tiebreak.

"We both played 150 percent," said Spadea, No. 21 in the the International Tennis Federation junior rankings. "But I just put everything I had into winning it. In the first set, I just kept telling myself to not worry about the score and to just go for it. I said if he's gonna win this set, I'm gonna make him earn it."

But it was Spadea who earned it. In the second set, Spadea broke Etlis to lead 2-1, then held for 3-1. Etlis evened the set at 3-all, but Spadea then won the next three games.

"I became very tired after the first set," Etlis said, through a translator. "But I am very pleased the way I played the whole tournament. But I would have liked to have won."

Spadea was also tired after leading the United States to the Sunshine Cup final two weeks ago.

"I really had to come in here mentally ready," he said. "I got tired in the second set and my concentration started to lag, but I just told myself to stay tough and put everything I had into winning."

The Orange Bowl was Spadea's last junior tournament.

"This was a good preparation for what to expect from the tour," said Spadea, who joins the pro circuit in February. "I feel like this gave me a lot of confidence and I think I'm ready to go pro. I'm not saying I'll do great, but I think I'm ready. When you follow in the footsteps of guys like Courier, than you know you're headed on the right course."

Spadea said he will likely travel with the USTA's Rookie Pro team under his personal coach Robert Seguso. Because his sister plays on the tour, he will also look to her for support.

"In that aspect, it's a lot easier going into something where you know what to expect," he said. "That's an advantage for sure."

"He knows that he's just going to have to take things as they come," Luanne said. "We just have each other for experience."

And the only difference for the Spadea family from 1989 to 1992 at the Orange Bowl?

seed from Paraguay, 7-5, 7-5 in the Girls' 18s final. De Los Rios served for the first set at 5-4 but was broken by Mulej, ranked No. 131 in the Virginia Slims world rankings. Both players will now turn professional.

Mulej, the first player from Slovenia to win any Orange Bowl title, also took the doubles with Maja Muric of Croatia. Mulej and Muric defeated Lara Bitter and Maalke Koutstaal of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3.